If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

In french politics, a liberal is someone who thinks that the State should have as less power as possible and therefore, that people should take care of themselves and not expect the government to do that for them.

But I'm guessing reading the answers that it doesn't have the same meaning in american politics

So if being a liberal mean that you have ideals of equality and solidarity, then, yeah, I think that a person claiming to be a liberal should be nice to other people in its everyday life.

If you truly believe in an ideal, you have to apply it yourself. It should'nt be "I think the world should be like this but hey, right now, it's not how it's working so I'm just going to do what I think is best for me".

For example, when I have poor people as clients and they ask me how much they will have to pay me, I will tell them that I can get paid from public subventions eventhough I know I am gonna be a lot less paid. Because I truly believe that everyone deserves to have access to justice and that it's not fair that for some people, that access represents one or two months of salary.

I always find "liberal" and "conservative" to be such strange labels for politics. And I definitely do not think that being "liberal" (whatever that even means) makes someone nicer or that it should make them nicer.

I always find "liberal" and "conservative" to be such strange labels for politics. And I definitely do not think that being "liberal" (whatever that even means) makes someone nicer or that it should make them nicer.

Well, you're just the type of person I was hoping to speak with.

To rephrase my original question: Should the moral principals that you advocate for the basis of public policy reflect the way you treat others in your personal life?

Based on what you've said here, I would say that you would say the answer to the above question is "no". Unless you would insist that being altruistic and being "nice" or "kind" or what have you are not necessarily related. I would tend to think they are, but it might be debatable.

To rephrase my original question: Should the moral principals that you advocate for the basis of public policy reflect the way you treat others in your personal life?

Based on what you've said here, I would say that you would say the answer to the above question is "no". Unless you would insist that being altruistic and being "nice" or "kind" or what have you are not necessarily related. I would tend to think they are, but it might be debatable.

Are you trying to say, if someone advocates for equal treatment of all people by law, should they have to be super nice to everyone all the time? No, I don't believe that. That would be ridiculous. I believe in equality under law, but I also believe that a lot of people are idiots, assholes, and otherwise, and while I support equal treatment for them legally, that's not going to force me to be nice to them.

Are you trying to say, if someone advocates for equal treatment of all people by law, should they have to be super nice to everyone all the time? No, I don't believe that. That would be ridiculous. I believe in equality under law, but I also believe that a lot of people are idiots, assholes, and otherwise, and while I support equal treatment for them legally, that's not going to force me to be nice to them.

I'm not sure "equality" is the best example to use here. Someone who is against altruism in public policy, like Ayn Rand, would claim to support universal equality under law just as much as a socialist.

When you support altruism in public policy, you are advocating the philosophy that we should be concerned for the well-being of others, and that this should be a moral imperative as well as a benefit for all of society.

When you are kind to another person, aren't you showing concern for their well-being? And from a psychological perspective, doesn't being kind have a collective, societal benefit in the sense that good vibes are contagious? It seems to me that being kind as a person and supporting altruism in public policy have so many parallels, that it doesn't seem to make sense to be motivated to support one but not the other.